Fishline guide mechanism for spinning reel

ABSTRACT

A fishline guide mechanism for a spinning reel, in which a fishline is guided within a narrow groove formed in a rotatable guide roller which may be supported on a bail support member so as to be tiltable about its rotational axis depending on a direction of force applied to the fishline. The line roller is configured to restrict rolling and sliding of the fishline in the lateral direction (along the roller axis) when the fishline is guided by the roller, to thereby reduce twisting and tangling of the fishline.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/550,766, filed Oct.31, 1995, abandoned, which is a divisional application of Ser. No.08/503,880, filed Jul. 18, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,139 which was acontinuation application of Ser. No. 08/136,695, filed Oct. 15, 1993,which was abandoned upon the filing hereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improvement for a fishline guidemechanism of a spinning reel.

There has been recognized a problem in a fishline guide mechanismprovided in a spinning reel that a fishline guide roller provided in abail support member applies an irregular force to a fishline during thecourse of winding operation, which results in the twist of the fishline,un-uniform winding of the fishline on the spool, the permanent wavephenomenon on the fishline, and the possibility of the cut of thefishline, since the winding direction is varied depending on thediameter of the fishline wound on the spool. FIGS. 11a through 11cillustrate a conventional roller `a`, and exemplify line twist that iscaused by movement of the fishline `b` on the outer periphery of theroller `a`. More specifically, when fishline `b` is laid in an inclinedmanner with respect to the roller axis `c` (see FIG. 11a), rotation ofthe roller `a` acts to shift the fishline `b` away from the central areaof reduced diameter (in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 11b). Sincetension is applied to the fishline `b`, the fishline `b` tends to moveto its original position of FIG. 11a during rotation. Movement of thefishline `b` back to its original position shown in FIG. 11c causesrolling and twisting in the fishline `b`(FIG. 11c). To solve thisproblem, Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication Sho. 58-19468discloses an automatic alignment system in which a rotatable fishlineguide roller is supported on a bail support member so as to be tiltableabout its rotational center.

However, the automatic alignment system for the guide roller suffersfrom another problem in that a clearance between a peripheral one end ofthe fishline guide roller and an annular projection of the supportmember is increased when the fishline guide roller is tilted, so thatthe fishline is likely to enter and clog into the increased clearance.At the other peripheral end of the fishline guide roller, the fishlineis likely to come off from a guide portion of the guide roller and, rideon the other portion outward from the guide portion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the problems found in the prior art, the presentinvention provides a fishline guide mechanism in which a fishline isguided on a guide surface of a guide roller which is supported on a bailsupport member so as to prevent twisting of the fishline by prohibitingunnecessary rolling of the fishline on and along the fishline guidesurface during the winding operation.

The preferred guide mechanism comprises a guide roller wherein fishlineis received in and guided by a fishing guide surface during the windingoperation. The fishline guide main surface is formed as a groove orstepped recess provided along the circumference of the guide roller withauxiliary surfaces provided adjacent the guide main surface to directthe fishline into the groove or stepped recess so that the fishlineimmediately falls within the fishline guide main surface. With thisarrangement, the guide roller can prevent the fishline from rolling andsliding on and over the guide surface by virtue of the retaining edgewhich adjoins the fishline guide main surface to the auxiliary surface.Thus, the fishline is free from twisting, becoming unwieldy, tanglingand being accidentally cut.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the fishline guide mainsurface formed as a groove or stepped recess may be located at asubstantially central location along the axial direction of the guideroller, or may be located at a biased position nearer to one of the endsof the guide roller.

In order to further solve the problems found in the prior art, thepresent invention provides a fishline guide mechanism in which afishline is guided on a guide surface of a rotatable guide roller whichis supported on a bail support member so as to be tiltable about itsrotational center depending on a direction of force applied to thefishline, the guide surface having lateral ends, and the support memberhaving a pair of annular projections opposite to each other and defininginner surfaces opposite to the guide roller. The fishline guidemechanism is characterized in that: a first distance defined between thelateral ends of the guide surface is greater than a second distancedefined between opposing distal ends of the annular projections. Aclearance may be formed between one of the inner surfaces of the guideprojections and corresponding one of the lateral ends of the guidesurface as long as it is maintained at substantially the same constantamount even when the guide roller is tilted relative to the supportmember.

Preferably, each of the inner surfaces of the projections is formed as apart of a circle whose center is coincident with the rotational andtilting center of the guide roller. Each of the inner surfaces of theprojections may be of step-wise. The guide surface may include afishline guide main portion in the form of groove and auxiliary portionlocated at both side of the main portion, through which the fishline isguided into the main portion.

The present invention further provides a fishline guide mechanism inwhich a fishline is guided on a guide surface of a rotatable guideroller which is supported on a bail support member so as to be tiltableabout its rotational center depending on a direction of force applied tothe fishline, the. guide surface having lateral ends, and the supportmember having a pair of annular projections opposite to each other anddefining inner surfaces opposite to the guide roller, characterized inthat: a first distance defined between the lateral ends of the guidesurface is greater than a second distance defined between opposingdistal ends of the annular projections; and a clearance defined betweenone of the inner surfaces of the guide projections and corresponding oneof the lateral ends of the guide surface is decreased as the guideroller is tilted to move the one lateral end of the guide surface nearerto the distal end of the annular projection. The one lateral end of theguide surface may be brought into contact with corresponding one of theinner surfaces of the guide projections to close the clearance.

The present invention further provides a fishline guide mechanism for afishing reel, which includes: a bail support member having a sphericalinner surface; and a guide roller formed with a fishline guide surfaceand supported by the spherical inner surface at lateral ends of thefishline guide surface so as to be rotatable and tiltable with respectto the bail support member. The spherical inner surface is defined by apair of annular projections provided on the bail support member anddeviated from each other at a first distance over the fishline guidesurface. The first distance is smaller than a second distance definedbetween the lateral ends of the fishline guide surface. Preferably, alow-friction coating is applied on at least one of the spherical innersurface and a portion of the guide roller which is bought into contactwith the spherical surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a spinning reel for fishing into which afishline guide mechanism according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is incorporated;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing major parts of the fishlineguide mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the major parts in a state thata guide roller is tilted;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing major parts of a fishline guidemechanism according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing major parts of a fishline guidemechanism according to a third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing major parts of a fishline guidemechanism according to a fourth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing major parts of a fishline guidemechanism according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 8a-8c and 9 are cross-sectional views showing modifications forthe first embodiment; and

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing another modification for thefirst embodiment. FIGS. 11a-11c illustrate fishline twist caused on aconventional line roller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the drawings attached hereto.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a fishline guide mechanism for a spinning reelaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention. In thespinning reel, a bail support member 3 having a bail 9 is pivotablysupported on a support arm 2 provided on a rotor 1. The bail supportedmember 3 is made up of a first support member 3A pivotably supported onthe support arm 2 and a second support member 3B to which the bail 9 isfixed. The first support member 3A has a through hole 3a whereas thesecond support member 3B has a support shaft 4. A mounting screw 10passing through the hole 3a is threadingly engaged with the supportshaft 4 to secure the second support member 3B to the first supportmember 3A. An inner race member 5a of a spherical surface bearing 5 anda collar 14 are fitted on the support shaft 4. The collar 14 and a stepof the support shaft 4 retain the inner race member 5a in place. Afishline guide roller 6 with a fishline guide portion 6' formed into asubstantially arcuate concave configuration is fitted on an outer racemember 5b of the spherical surface bearing 5 and retained in place by acollar 15. Thus, the fishline guide roller 6 is rotatably supported androcked on the support shaft 4 through the spherical surface bearing 5.In this embodiment, the fishline guide portion 6' is U-shaped, but itmay be other concave configuration in cross-section, such as a V-shapeor the like. Each of the first and second bail support members 3A and 3Bis formed with an annular projection 7 in such a manner that a distanceA defined by lateral terminal ends of the fishline guide portion 6' isgreater than a distance B defined by inner opposing ends of projections7 when the first and second members 3A and 3B are coupled together.Preferably, as best shown in FIG. 3, the dimensional relationshipbetween the distance A and the distance B is so selected that thelateral end of the fishline guide portion 6' is prevented from beingmoved beyond the inner end of the projection 7 even when the guideroller 6 is tilted maximum. Further, each of the projections 7 definesan inner circumferential surface 7' a distance from which to thecorresponding lateral end of the fishline guide surface 6' is maintainedat the substantially the same small constant value even when the guideroller 6 is rotated and/or rocked on the support shaft 4. Preferably,the inner circumferential surface 7' is so formed as to be a part of acircle whose center is coincident with a rotating and rocking center Oof the fishline guide roller 6 as best shown in FIG. 3.

Since the fishline guide mechanism according to the embodiment isconstructed as mentioned above, it is possible to surely prevent thelateral end of the fishline guide portion 6' from entering into a gapbetween the opposing ends of the collars 7 of the bail support member 3and also to maintain the distance between the end of the fishline guideportion 6' and the inner circumferential surface 7' of the collar 7 atthe substantially the same small constant value, even when the guideroller 6 is tilted due to the influence of the tension of the fishline 8as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, this arrangement surely prevent the fishline 8from coming off from the fishline guide portion 6', entering or clogginginto the clearance between the support member 3 and the roller 6,tangling onto the support shaft 4, raising out of the fishline guideportion 6' onto the support member 3.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment in which the fishline guide roller 6 isrotatably supported on an automatic aligning ball-bearing 5'. FIG. 5shows yet another embodiment in which a ball portion 5" is formed in thefishline guide roller at its central portion and the ball portion 5" issupported by center pins 4' axially projecting from the first and secondsupport members 3A and 3B, respectively. In this embodiment shown inFIG. 5, the first and second support members 3A and 3B are coupledtogether using a portion of the second support member 3B, which islocated radially outward relative to the guide roller 6.

FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment in which the inner circumferentialsurface 7' is so designed as to gradually decrease a distance therefromto the end of the fishline guide portion 6' as the end of the guidesurface 6' is moved inward. In this embodiment, when the fishline guideroller is tilted, a distance between the inner circumferential surfaceof the annular projection 7 and the one of the ends of the fishlineguide portion 6' is decreased while a distance between the innercircumferential surface of the annular projection 7 and the other of theends of the fishline guide portion 6' is increased. It may beappreciated that the one of the ends of the fishline guide portion 6' isbrought into contact with the corresponding annular projection whentilted further 7.

FIG. 7 shows further another embodiment in which the surface 7' isformed in a step-wise manner.

FIGS. 8(a) and 9 show a modification for the first embodiment shown inFIGS. 1-3, in which a radially extending or U-shaped groove incross-section is formed in the fishline guide roller 6 at its centralportion so that the fishline guide surface 6' is made up of a fishlineguide main portion 6a and auxiliary portions 6b and 6c located at bothsides of the main portion 6a. When the bail support member 3 is pivotedrelative to the support arm 2 from a fishline unwinding position to afishline winding position, the fishline 8 is led to the guide roller 6.The fishline led to the guide roller 6 is quickly displaced to withinthe fishline guide main portion 6a by the virtue of the auxiliaryportions 6b and 6c. The fishline guide main portion 6a in the form of arelatively narrow groove can prevent the fishline 8 from rolling andsliding on and over the fishline guide portion 6' in the lateraldirection when the fishline 8 is guided by the roller 6 by virtue of thefact that auxillary portion(s) 6b, 6c adjoin the fishline guide portion6a at a retaining edge. Thus, the fishline 8 is free from twisting,becoming unwiedly, tangling and being accidentally cut. In addition, thesupport shaft 4 of the second support member 3B is fitted in a largediameter portion 3b of the through hole 3a. In this modification, themain portion 6a in the form of the groove is located at substantiallycentral portion of the fishline guide portion 6'. However, the mainportion 6a may be located at a biased position nearer to one of the endsof the fishline guide portion 6' than the other as shown in FIGS. 8b and8c. Also, this modification may be applied to other embodiments shown inFIGS. 4-7.

FIG. 10 shows another modification for the first embodiment shown inFIG. 1-3, in which a clearance is not formed between the innercircumferential surface 7' of the projection 7 and the correspondinglateral end of the fishline guide surface 6'. That is, the lateral endof the fishline guide surface 6' is brought into contact with the innercircumferential surface 7' of the projection 7 at all times. Preferably,a low-friction coating 27 is applied to both of or at least one of theinner circumferential surface 7' and a portion of the guide roller 6 atand in the vicinity of the lateral end, which portion is brought intocontact with the inner circumferential surface. Owing to thisconstruction, it is possible to dispense with a bearing-type supportsystem provided on the support shaft 4 in the former-embodiments sincethe inner circumferential surface 7' rotatably and tiltably can supportthe guide roller 6 within a space defined in the bail support member 3.This modification may be also applied to other embodiments shown inFIGS. 4-7.

According to the present invention, in an automatic alignment system fora spinning reel where a guide roller is arranged to be tiltable about acenter of its rotation, a distance defined between lateral ends of aguide roller fishline guide surface is made greater than a distancebetween opposing ends of annular projections respectively formed infirst and second parts of a bail support member, and further a clearancebetween an inner surface of each annular projection and thecorresponding lateral end of the fishline guide surface is made constanteven when the guide roller is tilted. Therefore, a fishline is surelyprevented from coming off from the fishline guide surface, entering orclogging into the clearance between the bail support member and theguide roller, tangling on components of the guide mechanism, and raisingout of the fishline guide surface onto the support member. Thus, thearrangement of the present invention can ensure the smooth. fishlinewinding operation of the spinning reel.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fishline guide mechanism for guiding afishline, said fishline guide mechanism comprising:a bail supportmember; and a guide roller supported by said bail support member androtatable about an axis, said guide roller having a fishline guide mainportion in the form of an annular groove for receiving a fishlinetherein, and a fishline auxiliary portion adjacent to said fishlineguide main portion for guiding said fishline to fall within said annulargroove, said auxiliary portion adjoining said annular groove at aretaining edge extending around the entire circumference of said guideroller, wherein said annular groove is asymmetrically located nearer toa first axial end of said guide roller than a second opposite axial endof said guide roller.
 2. The fishline guide mechanism according to claim1, wherein said auxiliary portion is located between said annular grooveand said second axial end of said guide roller.
 3. The fishline guidemechanism according to claim 2, wherein said auxiliary portion comprisesa slanted surface which slants toward said annular groove.
 4. Thefishline guide mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said retainingedge defines a first minimal diameter of said auxiliary portion, saidfirst minimal diameter being larger than a second minimal diameter ofsaid annular groove.
 5. The fishline guide mechanism according to claim1, wherein said annular groove defines at least one retaining wallextending substantially in a radial direction with respect to said axis.6. The fishline guide mechanism according to claim 5, wherein said atleast one retaining wall extends to said retaining edge.
 7. The fishlineguide mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said guide roller isformed as a single integral unitary member.
 8. The fishline guidemechanism according to claim 1, wherein said guide roller moves along acircular path direction during a winding operation, said retaining edgebeing downstream of said annular groove with respect to said circularpath.
 9. The fishline guide mechanism according to claim 8, wherein saidauxiliary portion is located upstream of said annular groove withrespect to said circular path.
 10. The fishline guide mechanismaccording to claim 1, wherein said annular groove defines aline-receiving width and said auxiliary portion defines a line-guidingwidth extending in a direction of said axis, said line-receiving widthbeing smaller in dimension than said line-guiding width, saidline-receiving groove of said annular groove being sized to rolling andtwisting of the fishline during a winding operation of said fishlineguide mechanism.
 11. The fishline guide mechanism according to claim 1,wherein said annular groove is arcuate in shape.